At 105 W. Main St., the October hours are posted where anyone can read them. North Shore Brewing pours Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m., Friday from 5 to 10 and Saturday from 4 to 10. The rest of the week, the taproom is dark. The brewery describes this as its school-year schedule. It runs three days a week while classes are in session and five days in summer.
The rest of Syracuse keeps a similar calendar from late October to the new year. Hours follow the school year, most of the activity moves into Thursday through Saturday evenings, and the biggest holiday gathering takes place at Oakwood Resort on Lake Wawasee. If you live here year-round, it helps to know which doors keep their summer hours and which ones change.
The off-season week, place by place
These are the current posted hours for the spots that anchor a Syracuse week after the docks come in.
| Place | Address | Posted off-season hours |
|---|---|---|
| North Shore Brewing | 105 W. Main St. | Thu 5–9 p.m., Fri 5–10 p.m., Sat 4–10 p.m. |
| The Pier and Back Porch at Oakwood Resort | 702 E. Lake View Rd. | Sun 11 a.m.–4 p.m., closed Mon, Tue–Thu 4–8 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–9 p.m. |
| The Channel Marker | 5793 Pickwick | Sun–Thu 11 a.m.–8:30 p.m., Fri–Sat 11 a.m.–9 p.m. |
| Moka Roasters | 1021 N. Indiana Ave. | Tue–Fri 6:30 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat 8 a.m.–5 p.m., closed Sun–Mon |
Read across the rows and Friday and Saturday stand out. Every place on the list is open both days, and two of them run until 9 or 10 p.m. Early in the week the list gets short. Oakwood's restaurant is closed Mondays and serves only from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday under the hours it labels "Winter Hours." The bar stays open an hour past the kitchen.
The Channel Marker keeps the same hours in every season. Its website lists summer hours from March through December and winter hours for January and February, and the times are identical under both headings. For a Monday dinner after the season ends, that consistency matters.
The Frog was built for this season
One lakeside spot started out as a cold-weather business. In a June 2025 InkFreeNews profile of The Frog Tavern, the paper reported that The Frog opened in 1932, during the Depression, and mostly served ice fishermen. The profile called it a year-round food and drink spot.
The Frog has changed hands since that profile ran. InkFreeNews reported in March that The Frog Tavern and S.S. Lillypad II at 1116 S. Harkless Drive were sold on March 11. The restaurant closed temporarily after 4 p.m. on March 15 while the new owner planned repairs and a review of the menu. By August, the outlet reported that new owner Cheryl Manning was running both businesses. At that point The Frog's hours were 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weekends.
Those were the August hours under a first-season owner, and no winter schedule has been posted yet. With a 1932 ice-fishing history behind it, The Frog is the place to watch for whether those long summer hours carry into the cold months. Call ahead before a January visit.
Moka Roasters takes the mornings
The other places on the table are mostly afternoon and evening stops. Moka Roasters covers the morning. The shop held its ribbon cutting on July 23 at 1021 N. Indiana Ave. and opens at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday through Friday and at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
This is Moka's first off-season, so this winter will show how a summer opening does when the visitors leave. Its schedule fits around the evening places. A Tuesday in Syracuse can start at Moka at 6:30 and end at Oakwood's bar after the 8 p.m. kitchen close. On Thursday the North Shore taproom opens at 5 to fill the evening.
North Shore wants to be more than a taproom
The brewery's three-day schedule is a modest operation by design. At the Kosciusko County Alcohol Tobacco Commission hearing on July 2, owners Adam and Kimberly Prezbindowski asked for a beer, wine and liquor license under the riverfront/lakefront district rules. The commission approved it and sent it on to the state commission for final approval. The Times-Union's report, carried by InkFreeNews, quoted Adam on what they had in mind.
"We are a small brewery. We make and serve our own beer. We already have our small brewers license. That license allows us to sell the product that we make; however, we also want to be a casual sort of community center where people can mix and mingle a little bit. Just sit down and talk story. It's kind of a Hawaiian-themed establishment where we can also serve options for people who don't prefer beer."
According to the same report, the couple plans to run the business without any other employees, and only customers 21 and older are allowed inside. That helps explain the short week. Two owners running every shift can cover three evenings when school is in session. In October the brewery released its Night Marchers Pumpkin Stout on October 10. It has planned two days of Halloween for Oct. 30 and 31, with a costume contest and a special beer release on Friday the 30th.
The calendar from here to December
Once you know the weekly pattern, the dated events fill in around it. Here is what's posted for the rest of the year.
- Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31: Halloween at North Shore Brewing, 105 W. Main St., with a costume contest and a special beer release on Friday.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m.: "Science of Decomposition" from the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation at Ruddell Pavilion, 11586 N. State Road 13.
- Thursday, Nov. 5: The Syracuse-Wawasee Chamber's Business After Hours at Oakwood Resort, according to the Chamber's November calendar.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, 5:30–8 p.m.: Old-Fashioned Christmas at Oakwood Resort, 702 E. Lake View Road. It's free.
- Thursday, Dec. 3, 4–6 p.m.: The Chamber's Christmas Open House at the Chamber office, 207 N. Huntington St. Admission is free for Chamber members.
All five fall on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday, the same days the bars and restaurants keep their longest hours. The Oct. 31 conservancy program is the only daytime outdoor event on the list.
Oakwood is where the season gathers
Two of the five dates on that list happen at Oakwood Resort, and its restaurant serves from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Chautauqua-Wawasee runs the Old-Fashioned Christmas there on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Music starts at 5:30 p.m. around the tall Christmas tree in front of the resort, and the countdown and tree lighting come at 6. After that, the grounds open. The program includes:
- Santa and Mrs. Claus, Buddy the Elf, Frosty, Toy Soldiers, Reindeer and the Grinch
- An elf reading The Night Before Christmas along a decorated path
- A Live Nativity, and a reading of the Christmas account from the book of Luke in the historic Oakwood Chapel
- Horse-drawn wagon rides and a live reindeer encounter
- Fire pits with hot chocolate, cookies and s'mores, plus games, a photo booth and costumed carolers
Most of the evening takes place outdoors at the end of November, so dress for the cold. Then plan dinner around it. The Pier and Back Porch serves until 9 p.m. on Saturdays, an hour after the event ends at 8.
The trail you'll be waiting on
One thing that won't arrive this winter, or for several winters, is a paved route south toward North Webster. On Oct. 6, county commissioners heard an update on Phase II of the North Webster-to-Syracuse trail. It's a proposed 3.2-mile county segment along State Road 13 toward Wawasee Middle School, 10 feet wide, with an estimated total cost of $6 million to $7 million. InkFreeNews reported that the county had not committed funding as of that meeting. The project team was looking for county participation and planning an INDOT funding application. The stated letting date is September 2029, possibly a year earlier if funding allows.
Until then, the conservancy's pavilion at 11586 N. State Road 13 is the closest scheduled outdoor stop along that stretch of road. Its Oct. 31 program at 10 a.m. is the next one on the calendar.
If you own a home on Wawasee or Syracuse Lake and are thinking about what the off-season means for it, whether that's winter upkeep, timing a spring listing or holding through the slow months, Lion Heart Realty Group knows these quiet months as well as the busy ones. Schedule Your Free Strategy Call, and we'll go through your plans for the year ahead.
